Published on · Moova Intelligence team
Exporting starts with a simple but hard question: where is it worth going first? The answer rarely comes from a single figure. It emerges when trade statistics, market access rules and the company’s real capacity to serve a foreign client are looked at together.
1. Start with the product, not the country
Every foreign trade analysis starts with product classification. Brazil uses the Mercosur Common Nomenclature (NCM), whose first six digits follow the Harmonized System (HS) used worldwide. The HS code is what lets you compare your product with other countries’ statistics. The official table is the Common External Tariff, published by Brazil’s Ministry of Development, Industry, Trade and Services (MDIC).
A wrong classification affects everything else: statistics, tariffs, requirements and final price. It is worth recording in writing why the product was classified the way it was.
2. See who already buys
With the code in hand, two official databases help you see demand:
- Comex Stat, from MDIC: Brazilian exports and imports by product, destination country, state and municipality. It shows where Brazil already sells your product and who your domestic competitors are.
- Trade Map, from the International Trade Centre (ITC): trade flows between countries, by product. It shows who imports, from whom, and how that trade has evolved.
The useful question is not only “who imports the most”, but “where demand is growing, who the country buys from today, and why”.
3. Check the access rules
A large market can be closed in practice. Before prioritizing a destination, find out:
- the import tariff applied to the product and whether Brazil has a tariff preference under a trade agreement;
- the rule of origin required to use that preference;
- licenses, registrations, technical standards, labeling and certifications in the destination country.
The Market Access Map, also from the ITC, brings together tariffs, preferences, rules of origin and non-tariff measures by product and country. It is a starting point; final confirmation comes from the regulator in the destination market.
4. Be honest about the company’s capacity
Exporting requires volume, consistency, a competitive price after freight and taxes, sales material in the client’s language and, often, certifications. It also requires the company, or whoever operates on its behalf, to be registered in Siscomex with the Federal Revenue Service.
A promising market the company cannot serve consistently is an opportunity for later, not for now.
5. Compare a few markets with the same criteria
Pick three to five destinations and compare them all on the same basis: demand, growth, competition, tariffs, requirements, distance and logistics cost, language and ease of finding partners. Record the source and date of every figure, so the analysis can be repeated and updated.
ApexBrasil, Brazil’s trade and investment promotion agency, offers studies, dashboards and support programs for exporters that can complement this analysis.
In short
A good export decision combines official data, access rules and internal capacity. The outcome is not a sales promise, but a defensible order of priority: where to start, what to prepare and what is still unknown.
Sources
- Comex Stat (MDIC) — Brazilian foreign trade statistics
- ITC Trade Map — world trade flows
- ITC Market Access Map — tariffs, rules of origin and requirements
- MDIC — Mercosur Common External Tariff (in Portuguese)
- Brazilian Federal Revenue — registration to operate in foreign trade (in Portuguese)
- ApexBrasil — solutions for exporters